Photographs · above treeline

Adventures

Per my YouTube bio: I like going outside. In practice that means mountains, trail running, and enough fly fishing to justify owning waders. Mostly the Sierra and the Cascades, occasionally somewhere with better pastries.

Summits & Snow

Alpenglow light on a steep granite face at dawn in the Sierra Nevada

Jake Heller on a Sierra Nevada summit holding a sign overhead, mountains stretching to the horizon

A snow slope climbing toward a corniced summit ridge with sun flare above

Standing above a sea of clouds at dusk with distant volcanic peaks catching the last light

Four climbers in matching shirts posing in a meadow below Mount Rainier

A high alpine camp with tents pitched among volcanic rock and patches of snow

Mount Rainier under a deep blue sky above a green subalpine meadow

Jake Heller with a pack on a volcanic crater rim at sunrise, red cinder slopes behind

Jake Heller in an orange hooded sun shirt and glacier goggles above a thick cloud layer

The View From Up There

The granite monolith of El Capitan rising above conifers in Yosemite Valley

First light turning a granite peak orange, framed through silhouetted pines

A glaciated alpine basin with mist drifting across snowfields below rocky spires

The volcanic expanse of Haleakala crater on Maui with clouds spilling over the rim

A close view of the sunlit granite face of El Capitan above Yosemite conifers

A steep conical volcano wreathed in cloud rising above green tropical farmland

On The Trail

Marin is the home range, Mount Tam especially, which has absorbed most of my weekends and exactly one Achilles injury.

A rocky green ridgeline in Marin County under high morning cloud

Jake Heller wearing a race bib at the Dipsea trail race in Marin County, California

Trail runner in a black shell on a coastal path at golden hour above the Pacific

Standing on a rocky point high above a long beach on the Marin coastline

Gone Fishing

Two of these are from Pyramid Lake, Nevada. One is not. It's included for scale, and to keep me honest.

Jake Heller in waders holding a very large Lahontan cutthroat trout at Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Holding a large cutthroat trout in shallow water on an overcast day at Pyramid Lake

A small brightly colored trout held in one hand above a gravel streambed

The Dolomites

Northern Italy, where the mountains are almost annoyingly photogenic and the coffee at the trailhead is better than anything at mine.

A pyramidal Dolomite peak rising above a golden autumn meadow and larch trees

Evening alpenglow on a Dolomite range seen from a balcony above an Italian mountain town

A traditional wooden alpine chalet with limestone peaks behind it

Loaded adventure motorcycles riding through a Dolomites town toward a mountain pass

A sunlit pedestrian street in Cortina d'Ampezzo with a church bell tower at the end

A tall alpine hotel with wooden balconies full of red geraniums

A hiker on a gravel trail below a freestanding limestone tower in the Dolomites

Volunteer search and rescue

CALSAR

California Search and Rescue

I volunteer with CALSAR, an all-volunteer team responding to backcountry emergencies across California under Cal OES. When a call comes in, having trained people ready to go is what gets help to someone faster. In 2026 the team won a Rocky Talkie Search & Rescue Award. If you're in California and love the outdoors, they take applications.

Donate Apply to volunteer

Compare Notes

Route beta, trail recommendations, or where the fish actually are. I'm easy to reach.

Email me YouTube Gear reviews